{"id":27298,"date":"2021-04-29T09:27:14","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/?p=27298"},"modified":"2021-04-29T09:27:14","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:27:14","slug":"payne-put-yer-feet-up-in-the-bold-cavernous-kia-carnival-minivan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/2021\/04\/payne-put-yer-feet-up-in-the-bold-cavernous-kia-carnival-minivan","title":{"rendered":"Payne: Put yer feet up in the bold, cavernous Kia Carnival minivan"},"content":{"rendered":"

The new Kia Carnival minivan wants you to know that it\u2019s good looking. It\u2019s a minivan thing, I get it. Minivans are insecure next to their high-riding, muscular SUV peers. So Carnival has raided its hot Telluride and Sorento siblings\u2019 closets to outfit itself with a big grille, boxy stance\u00a0and bold wheel arches. Nice.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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But I want to talk about the awesome Barcaloungers inside.<\/p>\n

Because, like pickups and their beds, cavernous interiors make\u00a0minivans unique. Carnival, embrace your minivan-ness! Your roomy interior blows away SUVs. Reputations are made in the minivan circus with second-row seat tricks (Chrysler’s Stow \u2018n\u2019 Go, Honda’s magic sliding seat), and Kia has something to say.<\/p>\n

Behold the \u201cVIP Lounge chair\u201d \u2014 two of them \u2014 available on the top, SX Prestige trim.\u00a0Prestige will set you back $47,00\u00a0but will trump the back seat of a $100,000\u00a0Audi A8L. Check out these thrones.<\/p>\n

I pressed the rear door handle button and the sliding door \u2014\u00a0open sesame!<\/em>\u00a0\u2014 receded automatically. Try that in your Audi. Then I slipped my 6\u20195\u201d frame into an ocean of caramel leather, my elbows resting on twin armrests. With the push of a button, the chair began to flatten like my grandfather\u2019s living room chair. An ottoman popped up under my legs. The seat back went … All. The. Way. Back.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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If there were kids in the third row, they would have been flattened.<\/p>\n

OK, so that may be a problem in families with four kids. I can hear the rear seat wars now (I still remember my backseat battles with my sister, and we didn\u2019t have Barcaloungers to fight over). No wonder Kia options Carnival with a rear-seat camera so Mom and Dad can keep an eye on things. As a helpful distraction for the kiddies, Netflix can be streamed in the rear seat screens.<\/p>\n

Standard on Carnival is a second-row bench seat that is clever in its own right. The middle section will slide forward so front passengers can attend to, say, a car-seated child. Or the middle seat can be converted into a table. That\u2019s minivan cool right there.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Cool seats. Roomy interior. Bold exterior (Ford Flex fans in withdrawal, this is your vehicle.). So how does it stack up to King Pacifica, the reigning master of the minivan segment?<\/p>\n

Carnival is handsome, and it\u2019s got to be, in a segment Pacifica redefined. The Chrysler is one of my Top Ten vehicles, a comprehensive piece of automotive genius from its sculpted exterior (recently updated to look more SUV-like) to its innovative interior.<\/p>\n

The Carnival may have VIP lounge seats, but the Pacifica\u2019s interior tour de force includes a vacuum cleaner, kick-open sliding doors, sliding console drawer, and the ability to bury both rear rows under the floor (Carnival manages only the third row)\u00a0or remove the second row entirely.<\/p>\n

After spending time in the back of a Pacifica a few years ago, the first-grade child of a Tesla owner said to me: \u201cMr. Payne, this car is better than my dad\u2019s Model S!\u201d<\/p>\n

Pacifica just keeps piling on the goodies, and for 2021 now options all-wheel drive and a plug-in hybrid with 30 miles of range for local commutes. For all this bling, the Pacifica is still a remarkable value. Where Kia traditionally dominates Detroit manufacturers in value (price a Telluride next to a Ford Explorer sometime), Pacifica is neck-and-neck with Carnival pricing.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
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Indeed, it\u2019s Chrysler that brings the segment\u2019s value player with the under-$30,000\u00a0Voyager minivan \u2014 essentially a last-gen-styled Pacifica that undercuts Carnival by two\u00a0grand. Rock on, Motown.<\/p>\n

Features aside, however, Carnival will turn heads for the brand\u2019s bulletproof reputation. Think\u00a0#1 on JD Power\u2019s 2021 three-year U.S. Vehicle Dependability Study. That, and the eye-grabbing 100,000-mile drivetrain warranty. That reliability is gold for families whose western road\u00a0trips (guilty as charged) are built around their vehicles. And I\u2019ve been asked more than once about Chrysler\u2019s basement-level quality ratings.<\/p>\n

\"Detroit<\/p>\n
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Pleasing looks aside, the Carnival also takes a page from the V-6-powered Pacifica\u2019s playbook in tech and drivetrain. The infotainment system is superb, with lots of clever touches. The turn signal triggers a camera that shows your blind spot in the instrument display. A microphone enables communication to the distant third row. And the display is upgradable to a sweeping all-digital screen that brings to mind a Merc.<\/p>\n

Under the hood is a good ol\u2019 reliable V-6 that puts out a healthy 290 horses and can tow up to 3,500 pounds.<\/p>\n

Ultimately, the Carnival will be compared against its Telluride sibling, which is the pride of the Kia litter. A loaded Telluride SX with Prestige package \u2014 Nappa leather seats, head-up display, sultry headlights \u2014 costs about the same as my Carnival Prestige tester.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n
<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n

But the Telluride won\u2019t let you recline in Barcalounger comfort. Minivan, take a bow.<\/p>\n

2022 Kia Carnival<\/small><\/h3>\n

Vehicle type: Front engine, front-wheel-drive, seven-passenger\u00a0minivan<\/p>\n

Price: $33,275, including $1,175 destination fee ($42,770 SX and $47,770 SX Prestige models as tested)<\/p>\n

Powerplant: 3.5-liter\u00a0V-6<\/p>\n

Power: 290 horsepower, 262 pound-feet torque<\/p>\n

Transmission: 8-speed automatic<\/p>\n

Performance: 0-60 mph, 7.0 seconds (Car and Driver); towing capacity, 3.500 pounds<\/p>\n

Weight: 4,727 pounds (SX Prestige as tested)<\/p>\n

Fuel economy: EPA 19 city\/26 highway\/22 combined<\/p>\n

Report card<\/p>\n

Highs: Interior dexterity; one word \u2014 Barcaloungers<\/p>\n

Lows: No all-wheel-drive option; awesome Barcaloungers may cause backseat kid wars<\/p>\n

Overall: 3 stars<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The new Kia Carnival minivan wants you to know that it\u2019s good looking. It\u2019s a minivan thing, I get it. Minivans are insecure next to their high-riding, muscular SUV peers. So Carnival has raided its hot Telluride and Sorento siblings\u2019 closets to outfit itself with a big grille, boxy stance\u00a0and bold wheel arches. Nice. But […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,87],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27298"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27299,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27298\/revisions\/27299"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27298"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27298"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/henrypayne.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27298"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}